Retarder for rod-mills.



1. L. AND s. A. SMITH. RETARDER FOR ROD MILLS; APPLiCATlON F!LED JULY30. 1918.

Patented'June 17 1919.

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J. L. AND S. A. SMITH. RETARDER'FOR ROD MILLS. APPLICATION FILED JULY30'. 1918.

Patented June' 17, 1919.

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' J. L. AND s. A. SMITH.

RETARDER FOR ROD MILLS. APPUCATION FILED JULY 30. 19l8.

Patented June 17 1919 finds cao/a confratf TH Norm/s Farms ca, Pwmuma.w4sm-c nm. a. c,

JOHN L. SMITH AND SHERIDAN A. OF HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANAlDA.

RETARDER FOR ROD-MILLS.

Application filed July 30, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN L. SMITH, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada,and SHERIDAN A. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, both of whom atpresent reside at Hamilton, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada,have invented a new and useful Retarder for Rod-Mills, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Our invention has particular reference to the application of an improvedmeans, for use in connection with high speed rod mills wherein repeatersare used, for retarding the feed of the bar or rod in its travel towardthe last repeater and the final or discharging rolls. As is well knownto those skilled in the art of rod making, the billet to be reduced torod shape is heated in a furnaceto a certain degree of temperature andit is practically impossible to maintain the same degree of temperaturethe whole length thereof.

On high speed mills where repeaters are used, a uniform rod sectioncannot be made without carrying aloop of steel on the mill floor, whichloop varies in length from one to fifteen feet from the last or finalrepeater.

Again, in the present method of rod making, the loop is carried as soonas the bar enters the last or discharging rolls as the latter are madeto travel a little slower than the preceding or delivering rolls fromwhich the bar passes to the last repeater and when a part of the bar isof higher temperature than the remainder passing through the rolls, thepercentage of work on the delivering rolls, in advance of the lastrepeater is lighter and the next following or discharging rolls thentake the material faster than the other rolls will deliver, andtherefore if a loop is not carried it will cause the bar being rolled topull and stretch in the repeater and in consequence not make a uniformsection.

Among other objects, our invention has for its purpose to provide ameans adapted for use in connection with high speed mills whererepeaters are used, for carrying the loop of steel away from therepeater in case there would be a hot spot in the bar and prevent thefinal or discharging rolls from pulling the loop against the repeater.

v In rod mills that include repeaters, when the bar is out of the lastrepeater, the final or'discharging r011, traveling at a very high.-speed," causes the" last end of the bar to Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented June 17, 1919.

Serial No. 247,397.

whip and throw itself into a knot that will wedge in the guides to thefinal rolls, frequently causing the rod end to break off and preventingthe bar following from entering the guide to the said last or finalroll.

Another object of our invention is to provide a retarding means for thepurpose here inbefore stated that also operates to hold the last end ofthe bar and bring such end back to engage with the final repeater andthereby prevent the said bar end from whipping or knotting.

In the accompanying drawings, we have illustrated a preferredarrangement of parts that constitute our invention and while thespecific mechanical construction and arrangement of the parts shown andto be hereinafter described in detail, illustrate a practical embodimentof our invention, it is to be understood that our said invention is notto be restricted to the aforesaid details of construction, since theparts as illustrated in the drawings may be readily modified or varied,within the scope of the appended claims, to suit the requirements of theparticular arrangement of the stand of rolls and the repeaterconnections with which our invention is to form a cooperative part of acomplete rod mill.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a substantially diagrammatic plan view of a rod mill thatincludes our retard mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the bar retarding devices.

.Figs. 3 and 4 are cross sectional views, taken respectively on thelines 33 and 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of so much of the mill as isnecessary to illustrate the manner in which the rodloop compensates forirregular speeds of the primary and secondary stand of rolls hereinafterspecifi-' cally referred to.

Figs. 6 and 6 are similar views that illustrate the manner in which theretarder holds back the last end of the'bar being worked during theprocess of bringing the loop back to engage the repeater and guide thesaid last bar end against whipping or knotting. I Figs. 7 and 8 are.detail. cross sections of the last repeater taken= substantially on theline 7-7 and 8-8 on Fig. 6. l

, Referring now more particularly to Fig. :t'er the drawings, 1designates the first or primary stand of finishing rolls to which theheated billets are fed in the usual manner and from which the bars passthrough guides 2--2 to the first repeater 8 that directs the said bars,to what may be termed the next to the last stand of rolls A that operateto feed the bars through guides 1% that connect with the last repeater5-tl1at directs the bar ends to the last or bar discharging stand ofrolls B, when thesaid bar ends are held back by our retarding means, inthe manner to be hereinafter explained.

66 designate guides whose entrant ends receive the bars as theydischarge fromthe rolls B and whose other ends direct the bars or rodsfed from the last rolls ]3 to a switch mechanism 7- which, in turn,directs the finished product to the stand of reels 8.

As our present invention is confined to the retarding means, generallydesignated retard on Fig. 1, further illustration of the other parts ofthe mill shown in Fig. 1, is deemed unnecessary, since the said otherparts (excepting the switch mehanism, which forms the subject matter ofour copending application filed August 27', 1918, Serial No. 251,706)are of swell-known arrangement of rod mill.

Our bar retarding means, which formthe subject matter of thisapplication, in its practical application, is located just in advance ofthe entrant end of the last repeater and constitutes a continuation ofthe guide through which the bar travels from the rolls A to the lastrepeater 5.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, which illustrate-the details of ourbar or rod' retarding means, 10 designates a casting that includes atubular guide member 11 whose passage 12 from the ingoing end mergeswith a guide trough 13', U-shaped in cross section, which in turn mergeswith a tubular guide 1 1 whose outlet alines the end of thecorresponding guide 4 that cooperates with the last repeater, it beingunderstood that when a plurality of bars are being passed through themill, as shown in Fig. 1, a repeater mechanism is provided for each ofthe bars and since all of the retarders are constructed alike, a detaildescription of the single retarding means shown in Figs; 2, 3 and 4 isdeemed. su-flicient.

The casting 10 at the end of the guide portion 11 is formed with avertical bracket 15 whose forward face has a socket 16 in which anapertured lug 17 is rockably mounted, the said lug engaging a pivot pin18 that takes through the said bracket 15, as shown.

The lug 17 is an integral part of the vertical arm 19 of a presserpaddle 2O that'is yieldably mounted in and adapted for pressing thepassing rod or bar 02 in frictional engagement with the bottom of the U-shaped guide trough: 13, as is best shown in Fig. 3.

The paddle 20, before referred to, extends practically the full lengthofthe guide trough 13 and it is normally held under tension, to press downin the direction of the bottom of the said trough 13 by a tension spring21, one end of which is attached to the upper end of the vertical arm19;

An adjusting bolt 22 connects with the other or outer end of the spring21 and the said bolt passes through an aperture in the upper end of thebracket 23 that is made fast at its lower end to the guide 13.

An adjusting nut 24 engages the bolt 22 and the upper end of the bracket23 for regulating the tension of the spring 21.

The bracket 23 also serves asa support for one end of a perforated waterpipe 25 that is located above and isso disposed that it will deliver thewater jets directlyonto the paddle 20.

26-26 designate water drain holes in the guide trough 13.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdraw ings, the complete construction and the advantages resultant in theuse of our retarder arranged in operative CODJIGCtlOILWlth the rolls Aand B and the repeater located between the said rolls, will be readilyapparent to. those skilled in the art to whichour invention relates.

The retarder located at the entrant, end of the last repeateracts as asupporting guide and provides for carrying the rod loop away from. therepeater. A lift device of any usual construction may be used at theentrance to the repeater to cause the loop to jump out of the repeaterbut as the same, par 86 and the repeater, per 80, form no part of thepresent invention, but may be of the ordinary and usual shape, detailedillustration of the same is thought to be unnecessary.

By placing the retarder as shown in Fig. 1, when a part ofthe barpassing through the primary rolls A is ofta higher temperature than theren'iaining portion coming through the rolls A, the percentage of workon the rolls A is thereby made lighter and as the rolls feed out thehigherheated portion of the bar, the rolls B, will take the materialfaster than the rolls A deliver the same, and hence if the loop were notcarried over the mill floor and disengaged from the repeater the nowfaster feed of the rolls B will loop resting on the floor away from therepeater.

Furthermore since the retarder includes a clamp device or presser footthat constantly presses the traveling bar. against the bottom of theguide trough 13, it follows that when the bar is out of the repeater,and the rolls B traveling fast, by retarding the forward feed ormovement of the said last endof the bar and holding the said end back,any tendency of the said bar end to Whip or knot is overcome by reasonof the loop being now pulled in the direction of the arrow Z, as shownin Fig. 6, and back into the repeater to cause the free endof the bar totravel within the trough passage of the repeater, see Fig. 6.

The means for water cooling the presser paddle, is provided to keep coolthe said paddle and keep it from getting red hot, by reason of itscontinuous contact with the passing bar, it being obvious that unlessconstantly cooled, the paddle would bend and thereby lose itsusefulness.

Thus, with our improved device applied to a rolling mill of the generalcharacter stated, a simple, inexpensive and efficient means is providedand so arranged that a loop of steel can be readily carried away fromthe repeater, when a hot spot in the bar is being worked by the rolls Aunder a speed relatively slower than the speed of the outfeeding orpulling rolls 13, thereby producing a better rod and overcoming alltendency of the last end of the bar to whip and knot.

What we claim is z- 1. In a rolling mill wherein is provided first andsecond sets of rolls and a repeater located between said sets of rollswith provisions for allowing the bar to be lifted out of the repeater, aretarder for holding back the following end of the bar when it leavesthe first set of rolls.

2. In a rolling mill wherein is provided first and second sets of rollsand a repeater located between said sets of rolls with provisions forallowing the bar to be lifted out of the repeater; a retarder forholding back the following end of the bar when it leaves the first setof rolls, said retarder comprising a guide through which the bar passesand a presser foot engaging the bar in the guide and serving to hold thefollowing end of the bar until it is pulled through the guide.

3. In a rolling mill wherein is provided first and second sets of rollsand a repeater located between said sets of rolls with provisions forallowing the bar to be lifted out of the repeater; a retarder forholding back the following end of the bar when it leaves the first setof rolls, said retarder comprising a guide through which the bar passes,a clamp device for restraining the following end of the bar when itleaves the first set of rolls and holding it until the loop has beendrawn into the repeater and the bar end pulled out of the guide by thesecond set of rolls.

4. In a rolling mill wherein is provided first and second sets of rollsand a repeater located between said sets of rolls with provisions forallowing the bar to be lifted out of the repeater; a retarder forholding back the following end of the bar when it leaves the first setof rolls, said retarder comprising a guide through which the bar passesand a presser foot engaging the bar in the guide and serving to hold thefollowing end of the bar until it is pulled through the guide, and aspring tension device for said presser foot.

5. In a rolling mill wherein is provided first and second sets of rollsand a repeater located between said sets of rolls with provisions forallowing the bar to be lifted out of the repeater; a retarder forholding back the following end of the bar when it leaves the first setof rolls, said retarder comprising a guide through which the bar passesand a presser foot engaging the bar in the guide and serving to hold thefollowing end of the bar until it is pulled through the guide, a springtension device for said presser ioot, and means for cooling said presseroot.

6. In a rolling mill wherein is provided first and second sets of rollsand a repeater located between said sets of rolls with provisions forallowing the bar to be lifted out of the repeater; a retarder forholding back the following end of the bar when it leaves the first setof rolls, said retarder comprising a guide through which the bar passes,a clamp device for restraining the following end of the bar when itleaves the.

first set of rolls and holding it until the loop has been drawn into therepeater and the bar end pulled out of the guide by the second set ofrolls, and means for directing a 1% of water against said clamp deviceto cool the same.

7 In a rolling mill, the combination with the first and second sets offeed rolls, and the repeater between said rolls, of a retarder locatedadjacent to the entrance of the repeater, said retarder includingmechanism for holding the following end of the rod after it leaves thefirst set of rolls until the loop has been drawn back into the repeaterby the second set of rolls.

JOHN L. SMITH. SHERIDAN A. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 3 C.

